Friends Need Support
by DigiTails
Summary: Soren's upset. Ike needs to talk to him about it. SOREN and IKE B-A support in PoR spoilers. No yaoi or shounen-ai.
1. Problems

**Disclaimer: I herby say that I don't own these characters**

**Warning: This has been done a thousand times. I felt like doing it myself.**

**Extra Warning: Best if read after "Light and Anima"**

**Final Note: Can be read by itself**

* * *

"My lord Ike, is there something the matter?" Elincia asked as she came up to the blue haired general. He was pulling at his blue cloak while pacing fretfully.

"Oh, Princess Elincia," Ike said as he turned to look at her, "There's nothing much bothering me. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's because, you've been pacing for the last hour. Lady Titania is afraid that you'll hurt yourself. I'm more concerned about you catching ill."

Ike couldn't help but chuckle at the comment. His breath condensed into vapor in the chilly, snow-burdened air. "Oh. I see."

"So what is on your mind, my lord Ike?"

"It's probably nothing." Ike said as he walked over to his tent. "Come on, let's get out of this cold."

"Of course." The princess of Crimea said as she followed the general of her army. Ike offered her a seat and she took it. He sat down in another chair.

"So, what is bothering you?"

"Well, it's Soren, Princess." Ike looked at his knees, "I know that he's usually antisocial and perhaps a little mean, but he's never behaved like this before. He won't talk to me anymore unless he has to, and he's always looking upset. Rhys says that Soren isn't ill, or injured, so it has to be something else."

"Do you have any idea what it is, my lord Ike?"

"No. But he's been like this since Begnion, and he's only gotten worse. I wish that I could find out what was bothering him."

"Perhaps you could ask Lord Soren what's the matter?"

"I don't think that he'd really be willing to tell me. Even though he's been my friend for as long as I can remember." Ike groaned as he leaned forward. He was general of an army and he couldn't even get his tactical advisor to talk to him.

"Then you should talk to him if something truly is upsetting him, my lord Ike. I'm sure he wouldn't tell another soul."

"You're right. Thanks, Princess."

Elincia smiled at him and stood to leave. "I should be going, there are matters that I need to attend to."

"Right, right." Ike said and walked over to the flap that made his door. He held it open for her and then walked out himself to set off to find Soren. To his surprise, Soren walked right past him, seemingly frustrated.

* * *

Curses. Of all the times he needed to talk to Ike. She was there. But of course she was. Ever since his being named general, Ike and Elincia had gotten closer. There were times where Soren believed that Elincia was going to be forced onto the battlefield simply because she wouldn't leave Ike alone beforehand. Soren had felt like Ike was beginning to ignore him in light of the Princess. Whenever Soren bothered talking to Ike, the general would simply end the conversation with comments of concern over the Princess.

But he needed to tell Ike something. He needed to tell Ike that he believed Nasir to be a traitor. The old shipmaster was suspicious. And he had to tell the general before it was too late. However, to his dismay but not surprise, Soren found that Ike was engaged in conversation with the princess. He heard the tones of her voice and heard Ike groan after replying to whatever it was that she had said.

The young mage stood there for a few seconds, trying to decide what to do. Should he wait until she was gone to reveal this information to Ike or just enter and announce what he wanted to say? Tact was never one of his stronger points; he much preferred logic since it didn't have messy emotional responses to deal with. But he was, for once, getting tired of hearing complaints every time he opened his mouth about the issue. Soren decided that he would wait to tell Ike this.

But after a while of silence, Soren guessed that she wouldn't make her leave anytime soon and turned towards the wind, shaking some of the snow off his robes. The gusts caught a piece of paper that he was carrying. Soren frowned and chased after the paper. Once it was caught he had to retrace his steps and walk past Ike's tent again. This time he hurried past, not even noticing that the flap was open and Ike was standing outside his now vacant tent.

* * *

The general couldn't help but wonder what was bothering his friend. The blue haired lord followed Soren wherever he was going. Ike followed Soren to his tent. The tactician, who had an uncanny sense for being followed, had not noticed him at all. Which only deepened the cause for his concern. Ike walked over to the door, debating how to handle this. Usually Mist or Rhys took care of morale problems.

There was always his approach.

"Soren." Ike said as he walked into the room. The mage looked up at him and then back at the parchment spread out before him. Soren merely closed the inkpot and placed the quill that had been hovering over the black pool on top of the desk. Ike was surprised to see how fast Soren had gotten to work.

"Do you have a second, Soren?"

"What is it, Ike?" Soren said quietly and gestured to a chair. Ike flipped the chair and sat backwards in it. Ike only sat like that when he wanted to discuss something important or something that was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" Ike said and watched as Soren showed some form of confusion and then clarified his question, "You've been quiet and moody for days. What's going on?"

Soren thought about excusing his mood off on Nasir. But he knew, he _knew_, that Ike wouldn't believe it. Soren knew, _he knew_, what Ike meant. He was so taken aback that the man had noticed that he stuttered for a moment, "...well it's..." Soren stopped himself after the second word. He couldn't explain it to Ike. Not ever. _Never_.

"Yes?" Ike pressed.

"It's nothing." Soren said, shaking his head violently, pain was torturing his eyes. He subdued the monsters within him and finally looked at Ike again. Soren saw in Ike's eyes that the general did not believe him. At all. Soren hung his head, he'd have to tell Ike a little of it. But not all of it. Never all of it. "You've never worried about who you are, have you? Your family? Where you came from?"

Ike blinked in shock a few times. He had never expected those questions from Soren, whom was always filled with purpose, and definitely not his defeated tone. "Who I am?" Ike muttered the words, as if saying them for the first time. "Well, not really. No." Ike scrutinized Soren. Soren looked at him, alarmed. He was afraid that his question had angered the lord.

"I guess I don't understand what you're getting at. I had a father and a mother. I don't remember much about her, but otherwise, no complaints."

"It must be," Soren paused, searching for the right word, "nice to have loving parents. You need people to experience your childhood. To help shape the person you will become. Without an adult around to affirm and support them, a child can't know which path to take. Or who he really is." Soren closed his eyes at this and spoke barely over a whisper.

"Don't you have any memory of your parents?" Ike tilted his chair to try and comfort Soren with a hand on his shoulder, like he had seen Rhys do so many times. Ike could see the deflation in his attitude. However, the mage backed away and Ike nearly fell over.

"No. The woman who raised me was not my birth mother. And she wasn't all that fond of me, anyway." Soren took a shuddering breath, trying to stop what he was saying, but found himself incapable. So he continued, "My earliest memories are of her saying, "Why me? The world isn't fair!" or "Stay away from me, child!" No love. No affection. She took care of me out of some sense of duty that she didn't really possess."

Ike found himself unable to think of something to say while Soren shivered in his chair. The mage was thin, and the horrible memories couldn't help his situation. The temperature was dropping rapidly, going beyond what even he could tolerate for long. Instead of saying something, he got up and looked around for a spare blanket. Soren didn't seem to notice.

"When I was about four, a nearby sage came by and asked to take me in. He said I possessed rare magical talent. I remember the day clearly. My caretaker was delighted to give me up. In fact, she seemed almost delirious with pleasure. Smiling like a madwoman as she handed me over." At this point Soren laughed, out of irony and spite it seemed to Ike. "The sage even gave her gold as compensation. Not that it was necessary."

Ike's eyes widened, he turned his attention from the few belongings that Soren had to the mage himself. "Soren," Ike paused, fumbling for something to say. Anything. "I had no idea." He felt horrible for all the times he had ever agreed with the others' harsh comments on the mage.

Soren continued on in spite of Ike's gathering guilt. "The sage was old, and knew that death would soon come for him. His only goal was to teach his art to an apprentice. As time was short, he put me through terribly rigorous magic training. We worked day and night, without cease. I didn't even have time to think about who I really was. But it was still a better life than I had ever known. When the sage died two years later, I had acquired much magical skill. Perhaps too much for a child of my age." Soren seemed to consider his own statement and then shook his head, "At any rate, once I had eaten all of the food in the sage's hovel, I left and walked for days to find help. Upon reaching civilization, I came to another grim realization." Soren bit his lip and then told Ike what he already should know, "I couldn't speak. Not a word."

"Soren," Ike barely found voice to say and trailed off. He got the impression that Soren wasn't done.

Soren mistook Ike's tone for one of condescending. "Oh, I could read and write better than most of the villagers. And I could understand what they said. I just couldn't talk. I couldn't help it. The woman and the sage both used to hurl words at me. Unkind words, usually. But I never needed to answer, so-"

"Soren!" Ike wanted to stop Soren from continuing on until he found a blanket. If Soren shivered anymore, he might kill himself. And he needed a way to warm up. Ike could see that Soren's lips were turning a pale shade of blue. As soon as Soren looked up at Ike again after staring at the frozen ground for so long, the trembling stopped.

At first he seemed confused but then he seemed to regain some form of logic. "Oh. I apologize, Ike. I should not have made you listen to such nonsense..." Soren trailed off. He had said more then he had meant to. But he wanted to tell Ike so much more. So much _much_ more then he already had.

"Soren, it's no nonsense! It's awful! It's the most terrible thing I've ever heard! Where did this happen? Was it in Begnion?" He had never thought that any of this had ever happened to his friend. He hadn't even the faintest idea that it could have happened. But it had. So he moved over to Soren, trying to think of a way to comfort him. Now he saw the pain welled behind the other's eyes. Ike tried to correlate the fact that he had been like this since Begnion and what had happened to him.

Soren shook his head. "No." He paused. He wanted Ike to know. He wanted to tell him this so badly, "But, there's more. I haven't told you," He again stopped, debating whether he should or not, but again having his desire to have someone, anyone, know win out, "About my parents." Soren stopped, controlling his emotions and composing his features, masking the pain he felt, and the wild confusion. The mage stood and started to leave, "No, that's enough. I'm sorry." He apologized again and left, "Excuse me..."

This information about Nasir would have to wait.

Ike ran out of the tent. "Wait. Soren?" He looked around wildly for the mage, "Soren!" Ike called out, a giant cloud of mist forming from his mouth. "Blast!" Ike exclaimed and closed the tent, walking off to his but then changed his path. Soren needed a blanket. He didn't even have any sheets. The cold would kill him.


	2. Answers

It had been perhaps a week and Ike found it hard to believe that Soren was as calm as he pretended to be. Some sort of pain was hurting Soren, for he was a far cry less diligent then he always had been. Though, Ike couldn't say that he blamed Soren. Soren had been burying this so deep for so long, and for reasons Ike couldn't understand, it had surfaced recently. There was no way that could be pleasant.

Ike frowned as he got up from eating. He had heard Boyd.

"In our last battle that little wimp nearly got himself killed. If it wasn't for my killing that soldier he would have died. But what does that whelp say? Nothing. He just walks off, scowling and then has the nerve to tell me to watch out. He's so arrogant. Right, Shinon?"

Ike stopped as he walked past the table Boyd was sitting at. The green haired warrior had shouted almost halfway across the room to get the sniper's opinion.

"Boyd, if I remember correctly, Soren only said that because he had to save you from an attack by a sword master that I had been fighting."

"Huh? Oh. Right, commander. I guess I forgot about that. Hey, do you know what Soren's problem is?"

"Yes." Ike said and left the mess hall. There was no point in telling Boyd. Ike knew that Soren had only said those things because he had the mage's trust. Telling it to the warrior would only break Soren's trust in him. And the idea that he wasn't trustworthy of his allies, his friends even, galled him to the core.

Ike decided that he should talk to the mage again. Enough time had passed, and he wasn't even close to figuring out what his parents had to do with any of Soren's insecurities, unless they had abandoned him and left him with that woman.

He stood outside the door to Soren's tent. It wasn't so frigid anymore for spring was beginning to start. In fact, they had just crossed into Crimea.

"Hey, Soren." He said as a warning and then he pushed aside the flap of burlap and strode into the staff officer's quarters. Ike would have waited for a response at any other time, but he needed to talk with Soren.

Soren looked up at Ike and then quickly looked to the side. To Ike the fact that his skin was almost white was painfully obvious and the pain in his eyes. Ike didn't take a seat; he just stood there, looking down at Soren, trying to word what he wanted to ask. Then he just went with the way that felt most natural to him. Forward and blunt.

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said the other day, and there's something I still don't understand. You survived. You're strong. Why would you feel insecure about who you are? Tell me. Tell me everything." While he was saying this, Ike grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to Soren. He sat down on it and looked at Soren.

Soren drew a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. His entire body shook and then his eyebrows furrowed as he glowered at Ike. "Curse you! Why can't you leave me be?! I don't have any friends, Ike! I don't have anyone else!" He started yelling. Not very loud, but yelling regardless.

Ike nearly jumped back when Soren had started, his eyes wide. He was not used to such anger from Soren. A scolding for being ignorant, sure. But this was completely different. When he regained composure, Ike saw that Soren was running a hand through his hair and biting his lip as he spoke.

"If I tell you and you turn on me... I... I... I don't think I can survive it." Soren said and closed his eyes, turning his head from Ike.

"That's why you have to tell me, Soren. You'll never tell anyone else. And if you don't tell anyone, you're just going to keep suffering." Ike sighed as Soren didn't respond, he reached out and turned the mage to face him. "Look at you! You're a mess! Come on. Talk to me."

"Ike," Soren barely muttered, his lip was trembling. "I..." A few tears fell down his cheeks. "I..." His shoulders began to shake. He couldn't tell Ike. There was no way Ike would want to be associated to him after he told him.

"Soren, it's me!" Ike said, sensing his hesitation. Ike removed his hand from Soren's shoulder and placed it on his chest, "Trust me. I don't give two figs who your parents are! I'll stand by you."

He couldn't mean that. After he heard, he couldn't mean that. But those words filled him with more hope then he had felt in a while. "Ike, I…" Soren said and began to wipe the tears from his face with the back of his robes, "No, I won't..."

But those words. _"Trust me_" and _"I'll stand by you._" He sniffled once and then decided that he'd have to put his trust in his friend, "Ike," but how could he? "I'm," But he had to. "Branded. I'm one of the Branded." Soren looked up at Ike, expecting to see his face go through phases of disgust and loathing, but only saw confusion.

Ike's mouth formed the word Soren had just called himself as if to test it before he spoke. "A Branded? What's that?"

Soren was flabbergasted. He honestly didn't know what that was. Soren was almost tempted to dismiss the matter, but he didn't. It wouldn't be fair to Ike. He should at least know. Soren sat back in his seat and looked at his knees, "It's a cross between a beorc and a laguz. Such a taboo violates every teaching of the goddess. And of society. We are untouchables. Abominations. Condemned to a life of hatred and shunning from both races." Soren looked up, now there was no reason for Ike's face to not be twisted in disgust. But again it wasn't.

"Wait, wait. Hold it a second. Let me make sure that I follow you." Ike stopped, he didn't quite understand why that was bothering Soren so much. But this was quite a shock to him regardless, "You're part laguz?"

"Yeah. This mark on my forehead is the proof." Soren pointed to the red discoloration on his forehead, "I learned about it while researching ancient books at the Mainal Cathedral. I always thought it was a birthmark. Others thought that it was the mark of a Spirit Charmer."

"What's a Spirit Charmer?" Ike said. He had heard Titania use that term before, but he had no idea what it meant.

"Magic comes from interaction with spirits. If you let one into your body, it will give you tremendous power," Soren paused and frowned, "for a price. That's why the old sage was so interested in me. He thought I had struck such a deal. But instead, I was just a filthy Branded."

Ike wanted immediately to disagree with Soren's word choice, but he restrained himself. "All right. I understand. So?"

Soren stopped for a full ten seconds. He almost couldn't believe his ears, "What do you mean, "so"?" Ike couldn't have possibly meant what he thought he meant. Ike couldn't possibly be making light of the fact that he was a Branded.

"So, you have laguz blood in your veins. So, you have a mark to prove it. So," Ike said staring Soren in the eye, trying to figure out why this was such a big deal, "what's the problem?"

Soren jumped up, immediately pacing around the room, "What's the problem...? Don't you find me repugnant!? I work beside you, eat beside you. I'm nothing! I don't belong anywhere! Doesn't that sicken you?" At his question Soren whirled around to face Ike. He was panting heavily and seemed to be rattled, as though Ike had just contradicted everything and anything he believed in.

And Ike knew that he had. Ike stood up and walked to Soren. He shook his head. "No. It doesn't change anything." He placed a hand on his shoulder, "You're still you, Soren! You're a capable officer of our army. And my friend. We can't keep going unless you are with us."

"Ike," Soren stopped and looked up at Ike, "I thought... I thought you..." Soren had thought that Ike had known. He had thought Ike should have known. And if he didn't, once he knew, he thought that he would hate him.

Ike furrowed his eyes brows, "What?"

"It was Gallia." Soren turned his head to the side and backed away, "The sage lived in Gallia. A few beorcs had settled there and…" Soren's voice trailed off.

"Gallia? Are you saying..." Ike trailed off. Was Soren trying to say that he was part of the beast clan?

Soren shook as he took a deep breath, "When the sage died, no one would help me. I couldn't speak. Couldn't find food. I was dying. You were the only one who helped. You and your father. That's why you're my friend. My... only friend."

Ike stood there, speechless. What could he say to _that_? He had more friends then Soren did. But he felt as though he had to say something.

"Ike?" Soren ventured after a while.

"Yes?"

"Why don't you hate me?"

Ike was taken aback by the question. He shrugged. "You've been a member of the team for a long time and my friend for even longer. I don't quite remember meeting you, so you've been my friend for as long as I can recall. I can't say that doesn't matter just because of what you are and what you always have been."

"What if...I hadn't been your friend?"

"I doubt you would have told me if that was the case." Ike said, "But I don't have a problem with it at all. Honestly, Soren. I can't see why anyone else would."

"You won't tell anyone?" Soren asked suddenly. Afraid. Ike might not care. But, he didn't think that the others would be so forgiving.

"Of course not, Soren. So don't worry about it, okay?"

Soren nodded. He turned away suddenly, "Go. Please? I want to be by myself."

"Alright, Soren. Just promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Try not to get distracted on the battlefield anymore. All of us depend on you to help us win this."

"O-of course not, Ike."

Ike nodded and left. Now that that was over with, he had other things to think about. Like what to do with this entire army.


End file.
